Flourish Spring 24

FLOURISH

AGS Welcome

FROM THE HEADMASTER

Welcome to the spring edition of Flourish, our termly chronicle of life at AGS.

The spring term marks a pivotal moment for reflection and progress It's an opportunity to assess our journey so far and reaffirm our commitment to nurturing every student's potential. Our core values of respect for ourselves, our peers and community, whilst aspiring to achieve the best in our learning and relationships, continue to guide us as we strive to empower our students to excel in all walks of life.

A quote from Jim Rohn provides a great start to the term, reminding us of our responsibilities but also our opportunities.

The challenge is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humour, but without folly

We can all take much from these thoughts and directions, even in part, and use them to guide us through the excitement and challenges of the summer term.

The spring term was busy, as ever, with a diverse array of extracurricular activities and spirited House Events, participation remains high, reflecting the vibrant spirit that defines us I must mention the spectacular House Music Festival, held at Waterside Theatre with an audience of almost 1000 It was incredibly humbling to have over 250 students involved and the standard was incredibly high. Tony Hadley, our guest judge, was blown away by the talent, camaraderie and spirit of competition on display.

The very end of the spring term brought our first ever Aylesbury Grammar School Giving Day, officially launching our Pitch In Campaign for Sport which aims to raise funds over the next two years to build an all-weather, multipurpose pitch at the heart of our School which will transform the Sport proposition for both current and future students. We were overwhelmed by the response from our Aylesburian community and I am delighted to share that, thanks to the generosity of our AGS Parents, Alumni and Friends, over £123,500 was raised over the course of the Giving Day with nearly 560 individual donations, a fantastic start to our campaign I would like to add my personal thanks to everyone who got involved

I hope everyone has had a rejuvenating break and I look forward to the opportunities that await us in the final term of the year.

Mark Sturgeon, Headmaster

@AGSHeadmaster

AGS Archive

NURTURING CHARACTER SINCE 1598

Last year marked the 425th Anniversary of Aylesbury Grammar School.

To commemorate this incredible milestone, we commissioned a beautifully illustrated hardback book which chronicles the rich history of our School. Books are still available, click here to secure your copy.

Furthermore, thanks to the generosity of the Aylesbury Grammar School Foundation, we have created the AGSDigitalArchive, a wonderful resource accessible to current and former students and staff

AGS

AGS Events

FLOURISH IN ALL YOU DO

As the spring term comes to a close, House events for this School Year are well underway. The Heads of House are incredibly proud of everyone who has participated in House events. Every single one of you is appreciated and your involvement and enthusiasm makes the House system at AGS the wonderful thing it is.

The Brodie has been very busy this term. Starting with House Basketball, which was won by Ridley House. This was followed by House Swimming which was won by Denson House In House Swimming we saw new school records achieved by Jake (L11) and the Paterson House Inters Freestyle team. This was followed by House Football, which was won by Ridley House.

The Watson has been equally as busy. The term started with all the Houses preparing for the coveted House Music trophy, which was won by Phillips House, followed by House Chess, won by Hampden House Finally, everyone has been working hard this term on House Writing. The standard is the highest we have ever seen. The adjudicator will have a very difficult task this year, results will be soon after the Easter break

AGS Events

NURTURE YOUR CHARACTER

February saw the return of 2024's House Music Festival, held at the beautiful Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury, with special guest adjudicator Tony Hadley.

It was an amazing night, packed full of memorable performances and a true showcase of the breadth of musical talent we nurture here at Aylesbury Grammar School

Incredibly proud of the 250 students who were involved, from tech crew to performers, who delivered an outstanding evening of music to an audience of nearly 1000.

Huge congratulations to Phillips on their well deserved win, roll on House Music 2025, will they keep the trophy for the 4th year running?!

Thank you to all the Heads of House, Music Department, Tech Crew and Finance for all your hard work delivering such a spectacular event. @AGSMusicDepart

AGS Sport

NURTURE YOUR CHARACTER

Badminton

Congratulations to our Under 16A and B teams, as well as the Under 14A team, for their outstanding performance in the County competitions, securing 2nd place and advancing to the County Finals

Basketball

AGS Basketball teams showcased exceptional skills and secured wins in both friendly games and District fixtures, demonstrating excellent play throughout the season

Climbing

Our first group embarked on climbing sessions at Big Rock Climbing, Milton Keynes, working towards their NICAS qualification, with older students set to start their course post-Easter.

Cross Country

Kudos to our Junior, Inter, and Senior Cross-Country teams for their commendable performance at the County Championships, with several athletes qualifying for the Bucks team.

@AGSSportandPE

Handball

Swimming

Well done to both the Under 13 and Under 15 Handball teams for their success in the Regional qualifiers, advancing to the next stage of the competition.

Football

Our Football teams excelled in friendly matches and District League matches, with all age groups securing Semi-Final places, and a special mention to the Under 18 team for their efforts in the Bucks Cup Semi-Final.

Rugby 7's

Congratulations to our Under 13 and Under 14 Rugby 7's teams for their achievements in various tournaments, showcasing great teamwork and skill on the field.

Squash

Impressive performances from our Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 Squash teams at the England Squash National Finals, with notable individual successes and dedicated coaching.

Our Swim teams continue to impress in competitions, with consistent strong performances in galas and notable achievements from individual swimmers like Alfie Toms

Tennis

The Under 18 Tennis team showcased resilience and skill in their matches, with memorable victories and close defeats in exciting tie-breaks. Well done to Fraser Reeves, Ben McCrory, Tobi Akinwumi and Will Pringle

Ultimate Frisbee

Congratulations to Amrit Raghuveeran for his selection in the Great Britain Under 17 Ultimate Frisbee team, and to our Ultimate Frisbee teams for their outstanding performance at the Open Indoor National Finals.

AGS Visits

EMBRACE OPPORTUNITY

Despite the rain, Year 10 Historians had an enjoyable day at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. They saw the Mary Rose wreckage and went aboard both the HMS Victory and Warrior,

Head of the drama tech group, Ben (Paterson, Year 12) meets Jon Burtonsound engineer for the Prodigy at the Productions Futures careers event in February Mr Warner and Mr Kemp took a minibus full of Year 10 and Year 12 students to the event allowing students first hand career opportunities in the performing arts industries

We held our first ever exchange with The Crescent School in Canada.

Three Year 12 students, Freddie, Sam and Stanley, spent two weeks in Toronto with host families, experiencing the culture in Canada and attending School. Our AGS families then hosted three of their students and treated them to a taste of British life and culture.

@AGSHistory Dept

@AGSDrama

Mr Nathan led 20 of our Senior Musicians (those with grade 7 or above) to Oxford University and to the beautiful Exeter College, founded and built around 1350. After a short organ recital by Mr Nathan students gave a Concert in the College Chapel followed by a Jazz Event in The College's Undercroft Bar

It was a fantastic evening to celebrate our classical and jazz musicians and to hear the remarkable standard of performance that they have achieved

A Level Literary Students took a trip to sunny Stratford-upon-Avon.

They were treated to a rigorous and thought-provoking lecture from Dr Nick Walton on Shakespeare’s play, Othello, drawing fresh inspiration for their studies and making lots of notes on their A-Level text before a guided tour of Shakespeare’s Birthplace Museum and Home

Thanks to Mrs Beckley, Mrs Hearn and Mr Druitt for arranging and chaperoning.

@AGSMusicDepart

AGS Visits

EMBRACE OPPORTUNITY

Thank you to the AGS Spanish Department for arranging another fun filled and enriching trip to Madrid for Year 10 and 12 Students They had a brilliant time sampling Spanish food, soaking up the culture and practicing the language. Fantástico!

@AGSMadrid2023

AGS Visits

NURTURE YOUR CHARACTER

Students from years 9 and 12 enjoyed an incredible Ski Trip to Jay Peak, Vermont over the February half term With a mix of skiing, sightseeing and excursions along with a visit to Boston, they had a fun-filled and active week. The students saw an ice-hockey match, went climbing and to a giant splash park, they even had some time left over for a spot of shopping to buy those all-important souvenirs!

Huge thanks to all staff involved for organising and assisting

AGS Life

EMBRACE OPPORTUNITY

Year 8 students participated in a Chemistry At Work Day. AGS is the sole school in Buckinghamshire granted permission this year for this exciting event by the Royal Society of Chemistry , with support from Chemistry In Action.

During the event , the Year 8 students had an enlightening experience They learnt about Greatmoor, a pioneering initiative that generates energy from waste. Additionally, they explored upcoming technologies set to replace hydrocarbons as the energy source for aviation While they were fascinated to hear about how bees communicate inside the hive, handling earthworms provided a tangible connection to the living world. They were delighted to hear from the very popular Horticultural TV channel producerRichard Fishbourne who gave an insight into the horticultural world.

It's wonderful to see Key Stage 3 Science at AGS fostering such engaging educational experiences for its students.

Year 7 and 8's have been trialling Repair Kits in the Science Department- a great test of problem solving skills among our budding scientists and engineers.

The students were supplied with a broken gadget and they had to repair it, learning about scientific principles and equipment along the way, such as levers, gears, torque, generators and focal length. The broken gadgets included microscopes, wind-up torches and remote controlled cars.

To succeed students had to carefully follow guidelines, come up with solutions and have nimble fingers as many of the components were tiny!

Our School's Young Enterprise teams have been busy this Spring. At trade fairs in Milton Keynes, Watford, and Oxford, Interlinkd, WildCards, and Crafted Comforts showcased their products. Notably, Interlinkd and WildCards won Best Trade Stand awards, while WildCards also clinched the Overall Best Company in Oxford In regional events, WildCards won Best Logo Design, and Crafted Comforts and Interlinkd jointly won Best Presentation. These successes highlight the teams' fantastic entrepreneurial spirit

Well done to Hampden 13 on their incredible 24 hour charity bike ride, raising funds for Head Up Charity which aims to promote mental health awareness in UK armed forces.

They achieved an amazing £3350 in funds and covered over 1170km in distance We were honoured to welcome Steve Lambert the Mayor of Aylesbury who came to cheer them on along with the founder of Head Up, Paul Minter.

On the 21st March, Year 7 students took part in an RAF skills day. Matt Bagley led Year 7 through a series of high-energy, fast paced, hands-on experiential and immersive experience that encouraged resourcefulness, rigour, resilience, team-working, communication and confidence Students applied key STEM skills (problem solving and analysis) into an unfamiliar setting. Matt wanted students to learn that STEM skills are not something that take place only in a lab or classroom, but everywhere, all of the time

Izann (Denson 7) commented: “I learned how to think outside of the box and Matt was a really intuitive teacher”. Matt could not have been more impressed with our Year 7s saying this was the nicest group he had ever taught! He mentioned how welcomed he had been made to feel and the amazing school spirit Thank you Year 7 on being such excellent ambassadors for STEM and AGS."

AGS Life

CELEBRATE DIFFERENCE

We are so fortunate that AGS is an incredibly diverse community, with people from different cultures and backgrounds. At times in the school year, we are able to show our support of these diverse communities through the activities we offer here and this term we held a Diversity Focus Week with a focus on LGBT+ awareness.

Many thanks to all of the Quizzers who came to the PTA Curry & Quiz night. It was a brilliant evening, with great questions, fantastic food, a fully stocked bar, and even a live music round!

Congratulations to Mr. Sturgeon and his team of Governors who narrowly came away with the 1st place prize. Over £1500 was raised for the PTA, with the proceeds going towards vital projects.

The PTA also held a Year 7 beetle drive social, a great night was had welcoming our new Year 7 families to AGS

AGS Staff

SPOTLIGHT ON STAFF

In memory of Ed Dean (Denson '12), Mr. Ramsbottom is dedicating 2024 to fundraising as much money as possible for MIND to support them in their great work His 3 main goals are as follows: April 21st – London Marathon (26 2 miles) May 19th – The Outlaw Half triathlon (1900m swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) June 30th – Ironman 70.3 Luxembourg Donations of any size are appreciated, and we hope that together, we can smash this target and honour Ed with a sizeable donation to the fantastic charity MIND Please follow the link below to show your support. https://www.justgiving.com/page/rambo2024

At the end of this School Year we will bid a fond farewell to Mrs. Venning, our Deputy Head Teacher, former Head of Sixth Form, Safeguarding Lead, Teacher of History, and the heart of our School for the past 27 years, we can't help but reflect on the immense impact she's had. From guiding students through their educational journeys to mentoring staff and shaping the very fabric of our School, Mrs Venning’s influence is woven into every corner of AGS

We're hosting a special Afternoon Tea on Sunday, July 14th, from 2 – 4.30 pm here at AGS. It's an opportunity for us to come together as a community and celebrate her achievements, share memories, and wish her well in her new chapter.

We want everyone to be a part of this momentous occasion, but to ensure we have everything just right, we kindly request your RSVP by July 1st, please register below.

Click here to book your place.

Let's make Mrs Venning’s send-off as memorable as her time with us We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

ANNIVERSARY EDITION OUT NOW!

Old AYLESBURIANS

SHARING EXPERTISE

Scott Davies (Phillips ‘04)

In a compelling return to our Sixth Form, Scott Davies (Phillips '04) captivated our students with an inspiring narrative of resilience. Unveiling the depths of his struggle as a professional footballer grappling with a gambling addiction, Scott shared a powerful journey of hitting rock bottom. His candid account served as a cautionary tale for our students, whilst also illustrating the transformative power of overcoming challenges.

Obe Ejikeme (Phillips ‘99)

It is with great pleasure that we welcomed Obe Ejikeme (Phillips '99 and Aylesbury Grammar School Foundation Trustee) back to AGS Obe spoke to our Sixth Form about the importance of being financially literate in a hugely interesting and engaging talk. He shared his thoughts on the balance between spending, saving and investing Finishing his talk with reflections linked to finance, about what he wished he had known when he was 18.

Dylan Nichols (Denson '22), Dan Tearle (Denson '23) and Ben Kearney

As part of our Inspirational Speakers Programme, Year 12 had a talk on Apprenticeships It was brilliant to hear first hand from recent leavers, who have pursued apprenticeships after leaving AGS Sixth Form, we are so grateful to them for giving up their time to return and inspire Year 12.

Huge thanks to OA Joe Vinken who returned to AGS this term to speak to Year 10 on the topic of Testicular Cancer. Raising awareness on behalf of the Odd Balls Foundation, an important message for our students to hear.

Bernie spoke to our Y9 students about Careers and the importance of them being reflective and honest when considering their next steps He also spoke to our Sixth-Form students about taking ownership of their own health, especially when things don’t seem right. He spoke candidly about his own experiences and as always, the students gained a great deal from Bernie’s very engaging talks.

You don’t have to be an OA to help! If you would like to get involved, be it part of our Inspirational Speakers Programme, offering careers advice or mentoring at one our OA events, please get in touch at development@ags bucks s ch uk

(Paterson '23)

Andrew Bernard aka Bernie (Denson ‘85)

Joe Vinken (Paterson ‘22)

AGS Development

INVEST IN OUR FUTURE

We were delighted to officially launch our Pitch In Campaign via the first ever AGS Giving Day. The event was a huge success and, at the time of publication, our Giving Day total is a whopping £123,595!

On behalf of the Pitch In Campaign board, we would like to express how grateful we are to our incredible Aylesburian community for coming together and showing support for this vital campaign. We have been truly blown away by the response and are so grateful for all 548 donations received.

As part of our Giving Day House challenge every single AGS student either ran, rowed or swam in a competition to cover the furthest distance. Congratulations to Phillips House, who came in first place with an incredible combined total of 101413 metres covered.

Our Pitch In campaign is now live, and over the next 2 years, we will continue to raise funds to enable us to build an all-weather, multi-purpose pitch at the heart of our School This will completely transform our Sport proposition enabling us to provide inspiring facilities that motivate and encourage participation at all levels, bringing our growing community together.

Get in touch with us at development@ags bucks sch uk to find out more